Jordan Ellenberg Books
Jordan Ellenberg is a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research focuses on number theory, and he is also known for his popular writing on mathematics and its applications in everyday life.
Known for: How Not To Be Wrong: The Power Of Mathematical Thinking, Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else
Books by Jordan Ellenberg
How Not To Be Wrong: The Power Of Mathematical Thinking
In this engaging and accessible book, mathematician Jordan Ellenberg reveals how mathematical thinking can illuminate the hidden structures of the world around us. Through real-world examples—from pol...
Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else
A far-ranging exploration of how geometry underlies everything from elections to pandemics, revealing its power to help us think better about complex problems. Mathematician Jordan Ellenberg shows how...
Key Insights from Jordan Ellenberg
The Law of Large Numbers
One of the first things I emphasize is that our intuitive grip on chance is fragile. The law of large numbers tells us that random variation evens out as we take more samples—the average converges to the expected value. But human instinct rebels against this: we see patterns in small samples and dra...
From How Not To Be Wrong: The Power Of Mathematical Thinking
Linear Thinking and Nonlinear Reality
We love straight lines because they are simple. Draw two points, connect them, and we have a relationship. That’s our default mental model of cause and effect: if I work twice as hard, I’ll earn twice as much; if the car goes twice as fast, it must consume twice the fuel. But nature laughs at our li...
From How Not To Be Wrong: The Power Of Mathematical Thinking
The Geometry of Information
Information, at first glance, seems abstract—strings of digits, packets of data, words on a screen. Yet beneath all this abstraction is a deeply geometric structure. Information occupies a space—a multidimensional one—where relationships between bits of data have shape and distance. The way data clu...
From Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else
Networks and Connections
In the modern era, there may be no more essential geometric concept than the network. Networks are everywhere—from friendships and collaborations to transportation grids and the underlying architecture of the internet. Their geometry determines how quickly ideas spread, how resilient systems are, an...
From Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else
About Jordan Ellenberg
Jordan Ellenberg is a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research focuses on number theory, and he is also known for his popular writing on mathematics and its applications in everyday life. Ellenberg has contributed to publications such as The New York Times, The W...
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Jordan Ellenberg is a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research focuses on number theory, and he is also known for his popular writing on mathematics and its applications in everyday life. Ellenberg has contributed to publications such as The New York Times, The W...
Jordan Ellenberg is a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research focuses on number theory, and he is also known for his popular writing on mathematics and its applications in everyday life. Ellenberg has contributed to publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Slate.
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Jordan Ellenberg is a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research focuses on number theory, and he is also known for his popular writing on mathematics and its applications in everyday life.
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